Piano-stool



(No Model.)

H. B. BANES.

PIANO sTooL. No. 603,617. Patented Mey 10,1898..

mr. wams PETERSy co, PHOTaMTHo., wAsmNsToN, n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY B. BANES, OF BRISTOL, PENNSYLVANIA.

PIANO-STOOL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 603,617, dated May 10,1898. Application filed May 29, 1897. Serial No. 638,806. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY B. BANEs, of Bristol, in the county of BucksandState of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Piano-Stools; and I do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

My invention relates to an improved adjustable piano-stool; and amongthe objects of the same are to provide a stool having two seat-sections,each capable of Vindependent vertical and horizontal adjustment, withimproved means of quick and convenient adjustment and also certain noveland useful features of construction. I rattain these objects by themechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1is a front elevation of my device, showing the seat-sections locked inengagement with each other and partially raised from the base. ticalsection .of said device. verse vertical section of same.

Fig. 8 is a trans- Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the upper end of thesocket with pawl mounted thereon. Fig. 5 is a section of the bolt forsecuring the seatsections together. lFig. 6 is a horizontal section of aportion of end of casing, showing the end of the shaft for manuallyoperating thepawl. v

Referring to the said drawings, 1 indicates the casing constituting thebase or support for the seat supporting or elevating rods. The

said casing is provided with drawer-compartments formed therein, saidcompartments forming between them a' longitudinally-extending way 2, inwhich the sliding sockets 3 are adapted to move. Each of said sockets isclosed at its lower end and providedat its upper end with the flangedhead 4, the flanges being elongated to'form plate 5, as illustrated inFig. 2. Rods 6 extend longitudinally from end to end of the casing justabove the drawercompartments. Upon these rods ride the lugs 7, which areattached to the under side of the flanged heads 4, so that the socketsare movable upon said rods.

Positioned upon the top walls 8 of the drawer-compartments are thestrips 9, which Fig. 2 is a longitudinal verterminate short of the innersides of the said compartments to form a space for the purpose ofreceiving the rods 6 and the lugs and ianges of the heads 4, and locatedupon the upper faces of said strips 9 are the spacingboards 10, whichproject beyond the inner end of said strips 9 to prevent the withdrawalof the sockets when the said rods are elevated.

11 indicates the top boardv of the casing, which is provided with thelongitudinally-extending slots 12 adjacent its ends for the move-- menttherein of the elevating-rods 18 of the seat-sections. Theelevating-rods 13 are provided with spiral ratchet-threads, terminatingshort of their lower ends, so as to leave the smooth portions 15,whichiit snugly within the sockets. 5 An air-cushion is formed therebeneathwhen the rods are lowered, thus perlmitting the pawls for holding theelevatingrods at the desired elevation to be disengaged therefrom andthe seat-sections lowered without noise or jar. Small apertures lmay bemade fin the lower` parts of said sockets to permit ofthe gradualadmission "or expulsion of air intojorl from the sockets as theelevating-rods are raised or lowered, respectively.

The shafts 17 are rotatably supported at their inner ends upon thestrip18,'which is :attached to the upper ends of the" drawercompartments' andextends transversely the central way2. The outer ends of these shaftsextend through the end walls of the casing and the plates 19, securedthereto, and are provided at said outer ends with knobs for the purposeof manually rotatingsame for operating the pawls, as hereinafterdescribed. The said plates 19 have their central portions sunken withinthe end portions of the casing to receive the said knobs. The strip 1Salso serves as a stop against which the elongated flanges 5 abut tolimit the movement thereof. Upon the top of each head 4 is a housing orcasing 2l, through which the shaft 17`loosely extends, and slidablymounted upon said shaft within the casing is a pawl 22, having a portionof its inner edge cut out to receive the strip of resilient material23a, so that as the seat-section is drawn upward the operation will benoiseless, as the resilient strip sliding on the ratchet will deaden thesound ofthe ratchet. Each pawl is provided with IOO a feather 24, whichengages a way 25, formed in the shaft 17, and is normally held inengagement with the ratchet-thread of the elevating-rod by a spring 23,so that when it is desired to lower the seat-section rapidly shaft 17 isgiven a partial rotation,which disengages the pawl from the ratchet-rodand permits the seat-section to lower. A lug 26 is formed on the pawl,so that it will be necessary to give the shaft but a slight rotation inorder to raise the pawl to permit the insertion of rod 13.

Upon the upper end of each elevating-rod 13 is a head 27, which engagesin the transversely-extending guides 28, formed on the under side ofeach seat-section 28', said head being formed with a slot 29, which isengaged by the spring-actuated bolt 30, the stem of which extendsthrough the side wall of the seat-section, where it is provided with aknob 31 for manual operation. By disengaging this. bolt from the head ofthe elevating-rod the seat-section may be moved transversely of thecasing, or by giving the rod a partial rotation. said seat-sections maybe moved upon the elevating-rods in a direction longitudinallzy of thecasing, so that the seat-sections may be further separated when thelimit of movement of the socketswithin the casing is reached'.

I will now describe thebolt for uniting the seat-sections, which isformed with the securing-plate 30, in which the disko'r plate 31fLis'rotatably secured, said plate being provided with a gn-ide-loop 32,in which the bolt 33 is movablelaterally, said bolt being provided withthe stop 34 to prevent its being withdrawn th-erefrom and with. thehandle portion 35. The keeper for this bolt consists of theplatef36,which is secured to the adjacent seatsection, and having thecircular plate 37 rotatably secured therein, similar to the plate 31,said plate carrying the loop or keeper 38 to receive the bolt. When thisbolt is engaging the keeper, it will be understood that the:

seats cannot be rotated, so that they are not separated by the operatorin sitting thereon or rising therefrom; but when one of the seatsectionsis drawn upward or moved longitudinally the bolt automaticallydisengages its.

keeper by reason of said bolt and keeper being swiveled to therespective seat-sections.

A music-rack 39 is formed on one side of the casing, and the drawers 30are provided.

with the drawer-compartments, said drawers j having the rings 41 forwithdrawing the same from the easin g. It will? be noticed that theseat-sections may be drawn; upward by the loops 43, the pawls permittingsaid movement, and as soon asthe upward movement of the sections isdiscontinued the pawlswill rengage in the ratchets of the elevating-rodsto retain the same in the elevated position. `When it is desired tolower either seat-section quickly and` without rotating same, the shaft17,` carrying the pawl, is manually rotated, causing the disengagementof the pawl from the ratchet-threads, when Y bottom of the socket.

the seat-section will gradually lower without jar, owing to theair-cushion formed between the lower end of the elevating-rod and theWhen the seat-section has been lowered to the desired position, it maybe retained in said position by releasing the shaft 17, whereupon thespring-actuated pawl engages with the ratchet. The seat- -f sections mayalso be raised or lowered by rotating the same to cause the travel ofthe spiral ratchet upon the engaging pawl. It will thus be seen that Ihave so constructed the device that the seat-sections are capable ofindependent vertical and horizontal, longitudinal and transverseadjustment and may be raised or lowered either by revolving the4 same orby the rectilinear movement thereof, so that the vertical adjustment maybe accomplished slowly or rapidly, as desired.

I do not desire to limit myself to ihespecilc details4 of construction,but reserve to myself the right to change, modify, or vary such detailsthat properly come within the scope of `my invention.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The combination of a spiral ratchet-rod', a pawl adapted to en gagetherewith, laterallymovable means of supporting and guiding theratchet-rod and supporting the pawl, a seat supported by saidratchet-rod and laterally movable thereon and means adapted normally .torestrain and to be manually operated to `permit the said lateralmovement of the seat fupon the ratchet-rod.

2. rlhe combination of aspiral ratchet-rod,

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.a pawl adapted to engage therewith, means 7of manually operatingthepa-wl to disengage it from. the ratchet-rod, the pawl adapted nor-;mally to. restrain the downward rectilinear emovement. and toA permitthe upward rectiylinear movement of the rod andto: permit theupward-and'fdownward rotating movement of l'said rod.

3. Thecombination with a supporting-base` of a spiral ratchet-rod., apawli adapted to engage therewith, means, laterally movable with respectto the supporting-base, of supporting and guiding the ratchet-rod andsupporting the pawl, a rotatably-mounted shaft adapted to actuate thepawl by its rotation but to per- `mit the lateral movement of the pawl.upon it, substantially as. described.

4. The combination with a support of independently vertically adjustableseat portionsymovable laterally thereon and an automatic self-releasingbolt for preventing the independent rotation of the seat portions whenthe same are together but adapted to release the same when they aremoved apart either vertically or laterally, substantially as described.

5. The combination withasupport, of independently vertically adjustableseat portions, movable laterally thereon, and an automaticself-releasing bolt for preventing the independent rotation of the seatportions, but

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adapted to release same when they are moved vertically or laterally,substantially as described.

Aratchet, a shaft rotatably mounted upon the support, a pawl carried bythe socket, and adapted to engage the ratchet, said pawl being slidableupon the shaft but locked from rotation thereon, whereby when the saidshaft is operated, the pawl is disengaged from the ratchet, and a seatportion carried by the elevating-rod, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specication in the presence oftwo subscrib- HENRY B. BANEs.

ing witnesses.

Witnesses:

EDWD. B. FOX, JAMES W. BEvANs.

